Kenya will be the first destination for Tanzania’s natural gas exports. The Artumas Group Incorporation, a Mtwara-based gas exploring company, has been given the go ahead by the government to export to Kenya.
A source at the Ministry of Energy and Minerals told The EastAfrican that gas exports to Kenya will depend on whether they can satisfy local demand. The plant has a capacity for 300MW.
The company recently finalised plans to use compressed natural gas for motor vehicles and domestic purposes.
When contacted for comment by The EastAfrican, president and chief executive officer of Artumas Stephen W. Mason, said that he was not in a position to comment on the company’s gas export plans to Kenya.
The Norwegian-listed oil and gas firm discovered a gas deposit at Mnazi Bay in Mtwara Region, which has about two trillion cubic feet of proven gas deposit.
Early last year, the Tanzania government effectively licensed Artumas, which is involved in the exploration of gas to generate electricity to be supplied to Lindi and Mtwara, two of the country’s underdeveloped regions.
According to a statement from Artumas, the Tanzania government has given approval to the firm to finalise negotiations with the relevant parties for the export of compressed natural gas to off-take clients in Mombasa, Kenya.
It further said that the approval allows Artumas to move forward to conclude the relevant Project Agreements, including long term gas sales agreements with the off-take customers and transportation services agreements with the compressed natural gas shipper.
In the statement, Mr Mason said that conclusion of these commercial agreements would underpin the current planning activity in support of commencements of the drilling programme in the fourth quarter of 2008.
He said: “During the past year, Artumas has worked in close co-operation and collaboration with its working interest partner, Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation and the government of Tanzania to determine the optimal use of the large gas resource base located in the Tanzania part of the Ruvuma Basin.
The commercialisation strategy involves balancing Tanzania domestic requirements with high-value export opportunities. The approval for export of compressed natural gas reflects the vision and foresight of the government of Tanzania and is further evidence of the confidence held by the government in the abilities of Artumas to execute on its recommendations.”
KHARTOUM (Reuters) – Sudan’s president will travel to Ghana in October, officials said on Tuesday, even though a ruling on an international arrest warrant for Darfur war crimes is pending.
The Ghana trip, if it goes ahead, will be President Omar Hassan al-Bashir’s first visit to a country that ratified the treaty setting up the International Criminal Court since its chief prosecutor moved to indict him.
The ICC’s chief prosecutor asked judges to issue an arrest warrant for Bashir in July, accusing him of genocide and other crimes in the remote western region.
Ghana, as a “state party” of the ICC, would have to arrest the president if the judges issued the warrant during his visit, court officials confirmed on Tuesday.
Sudanese presidential spokesman Mahjoub Fadul told Reuters Bashir would face no real risk of arrest when he attends the 6th Summit conference of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group in Accra from Oct. 1-3.
“His Excellency will be there in Accra. But there is no risk,” he said.
“The judges have not made a decision about the warrant and we are now in negotiations with the African Union over the issue,” he added referring to ongoing efforts by the African Union and other bodies to defer the court’s action.
The global court’s chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo this month said he thought it was unlikely the judges would reach a decision by October.
But the three judges have not given any indication about when they might make the ruling and commentators have said it could come any time between September and the end of the year.
LOBBYING
A top level delegation led by Sudan’s vice president Ali Osman Mohamed Taha travelled to New York this week to build up support and lobby for members of the U.N. Security Council to defer the court action.
The African Union, Arab League and other alliances have already urged the Security Council to use its powers under Article 16 of the ICC statute to freeze any proceedings against Bashir to avoid shattering the fragile peace process in Darfur.
A spokeswoman for the ICC confirmed that Ghana was listed as a “state party” of the global court.
“Because we don’t have a police force of our own, we rely on state parties,” she said.
More than five years of fighting in Darfur has killed 200,000 and driven more than 2.5 million from their homes, say international experts. Khartoum puts the death count at 10,000. (Editing by Louise Ireland)
The authorities have located a group of kidnappers and the 19 hostages they seized in Egypt on Friday, but no rescue attempt that could endanger the hostages is planned, a Sudanese official said Tuesday.
The official, Ali Youssef Ahmed of the Foreign Ministry, said the group was about 15 miles inside Sudanese territory, near Jebel Uweinat, a mountain near Sudan’s borders with Egypt and Libya. The hostages — five Italians, five Germans, a Romanian and eight Egyptians — were taken in a remote desert area of Egypt. The kidnappers demanded $8.8 million. Sudanese forces surrounded the area and an Egyptian team was negotiating with the kidnappers, Mr. Ahmed said, according to Sudan’s state news agency, SUNA.
————————- Conflicting statements on identities of tourists hijackers in Sudan
CAIRO (ST) – The Sudanese and Egyptian government exchanged conflicting information today on the identity of people who kidnapped 11 Europeans tourists near the borders.
New tourists arrive at a resort in Dakhla oasis in Egypt’s Western Desert, some 850 km (528 miles) southwest of Cairo, September 23, 2008 (Reuters)
Ali Youssef head of protocol division at the Sudanese Foreign ministry told Sudan official News Agency (SUNA) that “all the kidnappers are Egyptians”.
However the daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper quoting unidentified Egyptian officials said that the kidnappers consist of 3 Sudanese and a Chadian national.
The Sudanese official confirmed earlier reports that the kidnappers have been surrounded but emphasized that there is no intention of engaging with them “to preserve the lives of the hostages”.
The tourists were taken at gunpoint last Friday while they were camping near the Sudanese border, Egyptian officials said.
five Italians, five Germans, a Romanian and eight Egyptians were among those kidnapped.
The Egyptian state news agency (MENA) said that the kidnappers are demanding $15 million to release the tourists. The top tourism official in Egypt Zuhair Jarana said that the captives “are in good health”.
One of the relatives of the drivers who were with the tourists said that it is likely that they have strayed 20 kilometers inside Sudanese borders.
Another tour guide by the name of Imam Fawzi revealed that Chadian highwaymen have recently become active in the area.
“I used to hear there were Chadians moving every now & then with arms. I didn’t believe that until I witnessed hijacking of two SUV’s last year at the hands of armed Chadians” he told Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper.
NEW YORK (ST)) – The French government appeared to be taking a softer stance on the role of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in Darfur after president Nicolas Sarkozy dropped the demand for extraditing two Sudanese suspects to the Hague.
France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy addresses the 63rd United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York September 23, 2008 (Reuters)
France had previously stressed that Sudan must turn over Ahmed Haroun, state minister for humanitarian affairs, and militia commander Ali Mohamed Ali Abdel-Rahman, also know as Ali Kushayb who are wanted by the ICC in connection with Darfur war crimes.
Then later the French Ambassador to the UN Jean-Maurice Ripert told reporters that Sudan may try Haroun and Kushayb internally with the consent of the ICC.
But Sarkozy speaking to reporters today at the UN headquarters in New York further watered down France’s demands with regards to the two suspects.
“We want those accused of genocide not to stay as ministers in a government in Sudan” Sarkozy said referring to Haroun.
Paris has been making conflicting statements over the last few weeks on their position with regards to invoking Article 16 of the Rome Statute which the UN Security Council (UNSC) to defer ICC investigations.
In mid-July the ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo announced that he is seeking an arrest warrant for Al-Bashir.
The ICC’s prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo filed 10 charges: three counts of genocide, five of crimes against humanity and two of murder. It was only last week that judges have started reviewing the case in a process that could possibly drag on to next year.
Sudan and a number of regional organizations including the African Union (AU), Arab League, Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) condemned Ocampo’s request and called on the UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution deferring Al-Bashir’s indictment.
But the UNSC has been divided on the issue particularly the Western countries on the council hesitant to support such a move.
The French president today made it clear that his country will not support a deferral resolution unless certain conditions are met.
“France wants the Sudanese authorities to radically change their policies. It is now up to Mr. Al-Bashir to determine what exactly he wants” Sarkozy said.
“We want to deploy the international force in Darfur to stop the scandalous situation in which tens of thousands are dying in this part of Africa. We want peace in Sudan as well as peace and the territorial integrity of Chad… people in Darfur have the right to live and we cannot accept the situation as it is currently” he added.
Sarkozy warned Sudan that France wants to see concrete steps taken before it would support a suspension of ICC move.
“There would be no recourse to invoking Article 16 unless there is radical and immediate change in Sudanese policies” he said.
“If Sudanese authorities do change; totally change their policies then France would not be opposed to using Article 16” the French president added.
But Amnesty International lambasted efforts at the UNSC to block ICC charges against Al-Bashir.
“If attempts to block the ICC’s investigation of President Bashir succeed, it would set a dangerous precedent for others to try to undermine international law. It would send a message that the international community is not serious about ending impunity for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes” said Amnesty International Executive Director Larry Cox.
Last week the French-Libyan born counsel Dr. Hadi Shalluf called Paris’s position as a “blatant interference in the judicial process”.
Shalluf, who is also a member of Sarkozy’s ruling party, said that “This is a serious violation of the European Union (EU) laws for a government to try and influence a court of law”.
Sudan has not ratified the Rome Statute, but the UNSC triggered the provisions under the Statute that enables it to refer situations in non-State parties to the world court if it deems that it is a threat to international peace and security.
——————-
Paris May Support a Freeze of ICC Indictment of Sudan President Bashir
A possible International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant against Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir took another turn after French President Nicholas Sarkozy reportedly said Paris might support freezing the indictment. President Sarkozy reportedly told the United Nations General Assembly yesterday (Tuesday) that his country would support freezing the possible ICC indictment if Khartoum radically changes its policies over the troubled Darfur region. This comes after the ICC chief prosecutor Louis Moreno Ocampo seeks support from the United Nations and the African Union to put Sudan’s President on trial for war crimes.
There is, however, a growing debate at the United Nations over whether the Security Council should defer the Sudan probe. Fouead Hikmat is the project director for the Horn of Africa of the International Crisis group. He tells reporter Peter Clottey from the Sudanese capital, Khartoum that it was about time that Sudan’s government changes its approach on the Darfur crisis.
“I think starting with a working assumption here in response to what President Sarkozy said today, I think the assumption is that the government of Sudan and in particular the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) that it needs radical change by first of all to agree to engage with the International Criminal Court, which is very, very important, otherwise if they do refuse to engage the International Criminal Court then there is no foundation for a radical change as far as the policies regarding the settlement in Darfur,” Hikmat noted.
He said Paris’ announcement should be a catalyst for the ruling party to change its stance on the Darfur crisis.
“I could understand that if we unpack the question of President Sarkozy, it means that first of all the NCP should accept and engage the International Criminal Court, that is to respond legally to it and in other words to try to create the conditions for a sustainable settlement of the conflict of Darfur, which then creates an argument to invoke article 16,” he said.
Article 16 of the International Criminal Court’s statute permits the United Nations Security Council to freeze ICC indictments for up to one year.
Hikmat said the Darfur crisis and its ensuing controversy about a possible indictment of Sudan’s President Bashir is a complicated issue to deal with.
“I don’t think it is a very straight forward issue like that because the issues are complex. And I always do believe that when problems are complex you can’t solve them by simple solutions. By definition, I think the solutions have to be complex so that they can address the multiple layers and the multiple factors make that problem,” Hikmat pointed out.
He said there was a need for enthusiasm and confidence building measures among all the stakeholders in the Darfur crisis.
“At the moment if the two parties are to negotiate and find a settlement to the problem of Darfur, this means that there has to be genuine willingness from the government and the rebel groups to sit round the table and to start to negotiate. Now, what constitutes that willingness because I don’t think the situation now in Sudan is about the simple willingness just to express your willingness to say that I would like to sit with others and I’m willing to. Unfortunately, the deep mistrust that is there among all the parties… that would first have to be operationalized through positive mechanisms,” he said.
Hikmat said if Khartoum is able to avoid possible ICC indictment it would bode well for the entire Horn of African region.
“I wish the government would be able to succeed in doing so because that would avert serious consequences to Sudan and also to the region because the issue at hand is stability within Sudan and also the regional stability,” Hikmat noted.
ADDIS ABABA, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) — The African Union (AU) and a Chinese firm signed a contract agreement on Wednesday for the construction of the AU Conference Center.
The signing ceremony at the AU headquarters in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa took place in the presence of some AU officials and a thirteen-man Chinese delegation, led by Chinese Ambassador to Ethiopia Gu Xiaojie, who came to witness the event.
The Chinese firm, China State Construction Engineering Corporation, in July won a bid to build the Chinese government-aided AU Conference Center.
The conference center comprises a 99.9-meter-high office building and a 30-meter-high conference hall with a vault totally covering 11.3 hectares.
At a signing ceremony, Erastus Mwencha, deputy chairperson of the AU Commission, said the signing ceremony of the construction of the new AU Conference Center is an exciting moment and a time to reflect on the existing friendship between China and the AU.
“It is a significant step to realize the project,” said Mwencha, while thanking the Chinese government for their commitment to ensuring the effective implementation of the project.
He further expressed, on behalf of Chairperson of the AU Commission Jean Ping, the satisfaction and commitment of the AU to work hand in hand with the Chinese delegation in facilitating and ensuring the realization of the project within the three-year deadline.
Meanwhile, Mwencha announced that a high-level Chinese delegation will arrive at the AU headquarters on Nov. 7 for the actual groundbreaking ceremony of the construction of the conference center.
It is unusual for an insect to take hostages. Yet, this is the reality of Lango sub-region, Northern Uganda, which registers some of the highest malaria incidence rates in the world; and includes Apac district, whose residents suffer an astonishing 1,568 bites per person per year from mosquitoes carrying the malaria parasite.
When a programme of household spraying using the chemical DDT [dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane] was launched to beat the scourge, gleams of hope -and suspicion- appeared. However, an injunction from the Kampala High Court halted the process after only Apac, and neighbouring Oyam, had been sprayed. It appears that DDT’s notorious public image, and evidence of its improper usage in Lango, is offering controversy, but little else, to a population paying a ransom in malarial blood.
Genesis of a controversy
“DDT is toxic to human health”, says Ellady Muyambi, General-Secretary of Uganda Network for Toxic Free Malaria Control (UNETMAC), a conglomerate of anti-DDT lobbies responsible for the court injunction. “We have scientific studies which have demonstrated toxicity of DDT in regard to human health and [know] it will affect the environment. It accumulates in the food chain and can be transported from an area where it was used, to an area where it was not. In all other African countries which have been using DDT, they have failed to eliminate malaria. Seventeen countries have tried it and have failed; now they opted to use other options. So we are saying our country should not rely on it.”
Uganda’s National Malaria Control Programme, under the Ministry of Health, actively supports the use of DDT in indoor residual spraying (IRS). Dr John Bosco Rwakimari, Director of the National Malaria Control Programme argues that “DDT is the most researched chemical on earth. More than a million research papers have come out. Of all these, none has come up with substantial scientific evidence that DDT is harmful to human beings or the environment. The only documented evidence of DDT being harmful to the environment is because it affects mosquitoes, small insects, like earthworms. As far as side effects on human beings, animals, environment in general, there isn’t any proven evidence.”
The writer and scientist Rachel Carson first drew attention to the effects of DDT in her seminal 1962 book “Silent Spring”, which sparked the US environmental movement. She argued that DDT’s presence in the food chain killed birds and fish, prompting, in her words, a “spring without voices” and hinted at the inherent dangers it posed to humans as well. Dr Rwakimari remarks “it’s been 60 years since Carson. So many studies have [since] been done.” Indeed, America successfully used DDT for malaria control and as an agricultural pesticide until banning it in the 1970s.
DDT in Uganda
The official turnaround on DDT was prompted by the World Health Organisation (WHO) approving its use for IRS in September 2006. It argues that by spraying the inside walls of houses, the chances of DDT flowing into the ground or into water sources are minimised. It was subsequently approved by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) as a key weapon to fight malaria under the President’s Malaria Initiative, which has allotted US$21.8 million towards malaria control in Uganda.
Yet, DDT is one of twelve chemicals marked for elimination by the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, to which Uganda became a party in May 2004. “DDT was never banned for public health, only for agricultural use,” Dr Rwakimari is quick to point out. “The Stockholm Convention left a window open for DDT use as vector [parasite carrying organism] control, for IRS. It’s unfortunate that during the ban of DDT for agricultural use. WHO also relegated IRS strategy to the bottom. It’s one of the best strategies for banning malaria; instead they pushed for nets and medicines. As far as public health is concerned, prevention is best and you target the transmitter or vector first if you want to get rid of the problem.” As part of a tripartite strategy, USAID advocates DDT as the most cost-effective solution, but also provides insecticide-treated nets and anti-malarial drugs through its Uganda programme.
“They are saying ‘DDT is cheap’, compared to other options,” Muyambi responds. “When you look at the requirements for implementing it, it’s not cheap. When we’re looking at cost effectiveness, we’re looking at the whole effect of the programme including health and environmental effects afterwards.”
Poor teamwork hurts the poor
The arguments seem rarefied in marginalised Apac, where malaria has had a damaging effect on the population’s health and economic productivity. The Hon. David Ebong MP (Independent, Maruzi) reflects the need to do something tangible about the situation when he says “I see no immediate option apart from the use of DDT. Having the highest malaria prevalence in the world, what options apart from what we have?”
At the same time leaders are worried that their constituents, many of whom are certified organic producers, will lose their markets as their products may contain traces of DDT, making these unacceptable to overseas buyers. Hon. Ebong feels the district must prepare for this by “diversifying our economic benefits by giving alternative resources” to producers. He is piloting bio-fuel production in Apac, confident that “there’s nothing related to DDT that would affect it. In fact it is surely the only way of running away from the market we’re losing from the use of DDT.”
However, the political establishment recognises that irregularities have occurred. Apac Resident District Commissioner Alex Jurua says “as a government representative, it was my duty to support the programme in the district and I’m happy with the result. [But] there were a few problems of course, relating to the involvement of different stakeholders. We had to struggle to be involved in terms of monitoring, in terms of what was happening in the field but also there was a problem of payments, sometimes, for the field staff.”
Hon. Ebong echoes the sentiments when he says, “we think we could have played a more stronger role in mobilising people to take it [the campaign] in a more positive way. That also determines the extent we were successful in running this programme. We could have done better if all the institutions and stakeholders were working together as a team; I think there was a big gap there.”
(Devapriyo Das is a Freelance Journalist and Public Affairs Consultant)
